Prior Lake Spring Lake Watershed District
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Posts tagged "water use"

Summer lawn care: Save water. Save money.

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - August 17, 2018 - News, Prior Lake, Spring Lake

Water use spikes during summer months as residents turn on their sprinkler systems to water their lawns. Summer water demand on city water supplies is nearly five times higher than in the winter. While everyone loves a green lawn, most people don’t realize they are overwatering their lawns. Try using these tips at your own home to save money on your utility bill and save water while you’re at it!

  • Make your lawn more resilient and drought-resistant. Water deeply and infrequently (once per week or less). This encourages grass roots to grow deeper, allowing them to tolerate drought better. Wait to water your lawn until grass doesn’t spring back right away after you’ve stepped on it. Keep your grass a little longer (3-4 inches tall), as it retains water better.
  • Most lawns could be watered less often and still be a lush green. Don’t water your lawn every other day – turf grass experts at the U of MN suggest that most lawns only need to be watered once a week under normal conditions.
  • Your lawn only needs 1 inch of water each week, including rain. Don’t know how much it rained? Get a rain gauge, record rainfall on your calendar and adjust your watering schedule accordingly. Some weeks it isn’t necessary to water. Don’t be afraid to take a more hands-on approach with your automatic sprinkler system! Consider installing a rain sensor.
  • Live on a lake? Save some serious money on your water bill by irrigating your lawn with lake water! Depending on your water usage, your lake pump could pay for itself in one season. The nutrients in the lake water are an added bonus, fertilizing your lawn for free!
    • If you are a resident of the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District (PLSLWD), you may be eligible for cost-share funds to pay for a portion of your pump. Make sure to apply for funds before you purchase your pump.
  • Have flowers or a garden? Use rain water captured from your roof & store it in a rain barrel to water your plants! PLSLWD also has cost-share funds available to District residents for rain barrels.

Not only will these tips help save you money and keep your lawn healthy and green, but it will also protect our important groundwater resources for the future!

Sources & More Information:

  • City of Prior Lake website
  • University of Minnesota website
  • Star Tribune (www.startribune.com/turf-war-study-seeks-best-ways-to-curb-surge-in-summer-watering/390809521/)
  • MPR (https://blogs.mprnews.org/ground-level/2014/07/11-ways-to-use-less-water-on-your-lawn/)
View Full Article irrigation, lawn watering, lawns, summer, water conservation, water use

A Better Way: Smart Summer Watering

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - July 3, 2018 - News

Maggie Stanwood from the local Prior Lake American newspaper wrote a great article about water conservation, lake irrigation and our cost-share program, which was the front page news story in the June 30th edition of the paper. We have shared the article here:

Each year in the summer, residents break out the sprinklers and hoses to water thirsty, dry lawns.

As a result, the summer means a yearly peak in residential use of the city of Prior Lake’s water system, which ends up being about five times the winter water use amount, Prior Lake Mayor Kirt Briggs said.

“What that does is that forces the city to account for that peak in capital infrastructure,” Briggs said. “That’s water towers, that’s pumps, that’s water treatment facilities. Quite honestly, there’s a better way.”

The city and the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District are hoping to combat this trend by raising awareness of programs offered by the watershed district to conserve water.

Rain barrels

The watershed district has a rain barrel program available to residents throughout the city, where the district will reimburse residents $50 for the cost of a rain barrel.

Rain barrels range from 50 gallons to 130 gallons and collect rainwater for yard work and landscaping.

“That’s more significant than people think if they truly use those,” Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District President Fred Corrigan said. “I was at a house the other day that had four (rain barrels). I’m guessing they have a lot of water they’re collecting. … I think people are becoming more aware that we are depleting the groundwater system.”

Applications do need to be submitted before making a purchase as the watershed district needs to approve the invoice. Applications can be found at the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District’s website. [Note: you must live in the watershed district to be eligible]

Rain barrels can be purchased but can also be made at home.

Lake irrigation

Those with lakefront homes — of which there are approximately 1,200 lots on the two lakes — can also apply for the watershed district to cost share up to 50 percent or up to $150 of a pump to put in the lakes.

“Lawns only need an inch of water a week,” Briggs said. “When you look at how our rain comes in, Mother Nature does a pretty good job there.”

The pumps allow those living on the lake to use the lake water to water their lawns. Using water from the lake would also lower water utility bills.

“If you pump water out of the lake, the phosphorous is good for your lawn, so you should be able to avoid the fertilizer,” Corrigan said. “If we can prevent or reduce the amount of commercial fertilizer that’s going on these lawns and into the lake, that’s a huge benefit to trying to treat the water later.”

Briggs said not many lakefront homeowners are taking advantage of the cost share program or pumping from the lake.

“It’s been interesting how few of the homes that are lakefront abutting have taken advantage of this program the watershed district has had for quite some time,” Briggs said. “It’s for the health of the lake, the health of our lawns and the health of our pocket books.”

Corrigan said part of the reason residents aren’t sure if they’re able to pump from the lake is that the lake level used to be low but that is not an issue at the moment.

“I think people are willing to do more and hopefully with these incentives we can get them to look at doing more,” Corrigan said.

Pumps can be found at hardware stores but the watershed district will help residents if they’re unable to find pumps, Corrigan said.

“The overall goal is to reduce the amount of water we’re pumping (from the ground),” he said. “The state is not going to continue to allow the cities to increase the water they’re using.”

Applications for sharing the cost of the pumps can also be found on the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District’s website, www.plslwd.org.

View Full Article Corrigan, Mayor Briggs, Prior Lake American, cost-share, irrigation, lake irrigation, rain barrel, summer, summer water use, water conservation, water pump, water use

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Prior Lake – Spring Lake Watershed District

The District covers about 42 square miles in Scott County, MN. Water in the PLSLWD flows mainly from the southwest to the northeast through Spring, Upper Prior and Lower Prior Lakes, and then north through the Prior Lake Outlet Channel to the Minnesota River near Valley Fair amusement park.
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Prior Lake - Spring Lake Watershed District
4646 Dakota Street SE
Prior Lake, MN 55372

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